Thanks Mortar, I agree on the lumber but it has been a bit of work to get to it. Hopefully I don't mess it up now. We'll know within the next few weeks I guess. I'm going with lacquer so it should be easier to scrape off my mistakes than the poly was. I ordered some of the original pickup covers today and purhased some new pots. I already have a spool of cloth covered wire so the body and pickguard are now my focus.

Wow, that's actually a very pretty piece of wood! I was actually a little disappointed you didn't leave it with the punk rock look until I saw that. Are you considering showing it off with a transparent finish perhaps?

_________________Who needs a Fender Jazz when you can get a perfectly good Spectrum bass for $50?

Thanks Warrn. I've considered a transparent finish, but the problem I see with that are the holes and subsequent fill from the bigsby installation. I'll research how to hide these and I'm open to suggestions if anyone has any. This is an area I can learn from more experienced persons.

it is some nice looking caps... usually a body construction like that would get a solid color, or a traditional burst with black edges... but a trans finish would be cool. you could do a flat black stripe down the middle to cover the bigsby holes (think Spectrum FX) but just wide enough to cover the holes, and leave the most grain visible...

It looks like a front to back lamination to me. The lighter wood on the front and back is pretty stunning. The darker wood in the center may be multiple pieces also, hard to tell from a couple of snapshots. Bottom line is that Matsumoku were magicians when it came to these style bodies, and sonically no less a foundation for Electric guitar use. Curious that they would take the time and energy on a guitar that would ultimately have a opaque finish, but maybe that was a economy of quantity type situation.

I have a Electra Tele that is basically two pieces of butcher blocks laminated together, probably 14 or more strips of wood. It would probably take Pete Townshend himself to bust that one up. Take care on the horns as any divots in the edge routes from sanding will really show up once you put a shiny finish on it. Looking good Sandspur.

Thanks all. I learn new things all of the time. I am taking care on the horns. I used a palm sander on a lot of the body but not on the inside of the horns. I started sanding this part by hand and after awhile got tired of it. I've learned that when that happens I just walk away and save it for another day. Better to do this than to try and shortcut it and regret it later. I've made too many mistakes on other projects being impatient.

I believe I will put a solid color on it. I'm just too picky about my own work and it will drive me nuts to see those holes in any shape, form, or fashion. This is why my least favorite thing to do is painting a room. I spend entirely too much time making my lines perfect. It is really very annoying. Now if someone else did it, I wouldn't be bothered by it.

So my next question for the refinishing experts is, "wood filler or automotive body paste"?

Well I stand corrected and have learned something. I think I breathed too much poly dust yesterday. They did a very good job with the lamination but I looked a little closer and I can see it. I now know what to look for on these guitars. I completed the rough sand on the horns and will finish a 150 sand tomorrow. The top laminate is very thin so I think I will put a layer of shellac next followed by a coat of lacquer primer. I'll fine sand at this level and appraise the situation after that. It will probably need more layers of primer and sanding before the color coats.

A similar situation with a laminated front and back came up on the Westone forums just recently, and someone mentioned it was done because the finish would be naturally smoother over a veneer. I have no idea of the science behind that, but there you go. I like the middle stripe with transparent sides idea, but go with whatever makes you happy! I say find a unique color, something they didn't apply to Spectrums at the factory.

_________________Who needs a Fender Jazz when you can get a perfectly good Spectrum bass for $50?

Thanks for the info Warrn. I bet it made it easier to get a consistent finish. If this was a Spectrum I might use the stripe on it but since it isn't I'm going to do something else. Actually, it has more to do with it having a pickguard than anything else. I do have a color in mind and it is different than the original colors. It is duplicolor metal specks ocean blue. I'll probably use a black-white-black pickguard and the original type pickup covers. I don't currently own any blue guitars and I really like the color I mentioned.

If it were mine, I'd just fill the extra un-used holes with a good matching filler, or hardwood dowel, stain it, and let that nice wood show. I don't have a problem with "character marks", it's a vintage guitar. If I had an air-brush, I'd probably experiment with trying to do a burst stain. But not on the guitar until I had the technique pefected that is.

Looking very nice sandspur. For a solid finish you can use auto filler with no problem. If you want to fill those holes before doing that you can go a few different ways. Small wood dowels or toothpicks would work fine. I like to make a mix of sawdust from the sanding and wood glue and then coax it into the holes - but I wouldn't bother with that unless you were doing a natural or trans finish. Horns are a pain to sand. If I have to do it again I will buy a real sanding drum instead of the tiny dremel ones. Take your time when painting/spraying, be patient and remember "less is more: in that phase.